Recovery buoy for hydrobombs



Feb. 18, 1947.- K Q C, BELL ETAL 2,415,863

RECOVERY BUOY FOR HYDROBOMBS Filed June 15, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb.18, i947. C. c. BELL ETfAL 2,415,863

RECOVERY BUOY FOR HYDROBOMBS Filed June 15, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 2Patented Feb. 18, 1947 RECGVERY BUOY FOR HYDROBGWIBS Application June13, 1945, Serial No. 599,188

2 Claims.

This invention relates to torpedoes and more particularly to means forfacilitating the recovery of torpedoes.

Before torpedoes are used in actual service they are commonly putthrough a series of practice runs to check the control apparatus andcalibrate it in order to insure the accuracy of the torpedo when inactual use. During these practice runs the usual war head of the torpedois replaced by what is known as an exercise head which may be lled withwater to the extent that its weight is the same as that of the war head.The torpedo sinks at the end of its practice run and in order tofacilitate recovery of the torpedo it is common to employ a valvemechanism responsive to the hydrostatic pressure which operates topermit the entranceof air into the war head causing expulsion of thewater therefrom whereupon the torpedo becomes suciently buoyant to riseto the surface where it can be readily ound.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simplified apparatusto facilitate locating the torpedo at the end of its practice run, whichmechanism does not depend upon hydrostatic pressure so that the torpedo,at the end of its practice run, may as readily be found in shallow wateras in deep water.

To this end and in accordance with the present invention the torpedo isprovided with one or more recovery buoys which are normally housedwithin the torpedo and each of which is held in place therein by latchesagainst the force of a spring tending to urge the buoy out of thetorpedo. These latches are held in locking engagement with the buoy bymembers which are soluble in water and are exposed to the action of thewater when the torpedo is submerged so that after a predetermined lengthof time these members dissolve, permitting retraction of the latcheswhereupon the buoy is forced outwardly of the torpedo by the spring andrises to .the surface, it being connected to the torpedo by a cable sothat the torpedo may be readily found by divers and recovered.

The above and other features of the invention including various detailsof construction and novel combinations of parts will now be described indetail by reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of the exercise head of a torpedo inwhich the present invention is embodied, illustrating the mechanism bywhich a recovery buoy is confined therein;

-Fig. 2 is a section on .the line II-II of Fig. l,

and

Fig. 3 is an exploded View of one of the latch assemblies.

`While the invention is described herein as applied to a single recoverybuoy it will be understood that in practice two of these buoys may beconfined in opposite sides of the torpedo so that, regardless of theposition of the torpedo when it nally comes to rest, at least one of thebuoys will find its way to the surface ofthe water.

A buoy t2 is preferably conned in the exercise head lll of a torpedo,the buoyy consisting of a block of light-weight material such as balsawood, although it will be understood that the buoy may be of anysuitable form and material as long as it is suiciently buoyant to riseto the surface of the water at the proper time. The buoy is housedwithin a tube I4 extending inwardly from the wall of the torpedo andwithin the tube is secured a receptacle lli to the bottom of which issecured one end of a cable I8, the other end being secured to the bottomof the buoy I2. The cable is of suicient length to permit the buoy torise to the surface of the water in which the torpedo travels in itspractice run after the torpedo has sunk to the bottom.

The buoy is urged outwardly of the torpedo by a compression spring 20which acts upon a collar 22 which inturn engages a shoulder 24T at theinner end of the buoy. For holding the buoy within the torpedo againstthe force of the spring 2o, until the torpedo has been submerged for apredetermined time, a pair of latches 2B are held in engagement withbeveled surfaces 28 of a cap 3o secured by screws 3| to the outer end ofthe buoy.

Each of the latches 26 is pivoted on a pin 32 carried by spaced walls 34(Fig. 3) of a support 3S having outwardly extending flanges 38 receivedin grooves All of a ring 42. The ring 42 is secured by screws i@(Fig. 1) to a circular flange 46 surrounding the hole in the wall of thetorpedo through which the buoy is expelled. The latches 2% are held inlocking engagement with the cap 38 by elements 48 which may be in theform of tablets of salt or other suitable material. These tablets areheld against the rearward surfaces of the latches 2S by members 50 (Fig.3) having anges 52 received in vertical ways 54 in the support 3E. Eachmember 50 and the associated element 4B is held in position by a cover56 secured by screws 58 to the walls 3i of the support 36. A locatingpin 6l! passes through apertures 62, 66, in the ring 42, the member 50and the cover 56 respectively, to facilitate assembly of the parts inthe proper positions.

The outer surfaces of the latches 26 are curved at 68, the center ofcurvature coinciding with the axis of the pin 32 vand the cover plate 56has correspondingly curved portions on its under side. Thus the latchesare free to swing outwardly of the cap 30 under the force exertedthereon by the spring 20 acting through the cap 30 and the beveledsurfaces 28, when the salt tablets are dissolved. It will be noted thatthe surfaces of the latches which engage the cap 30 are inclined so thatthey are readily cammed into inoperative positions when free to be thusmoved. To facilitate the dissolving of the tablets, each member 50 isprovided with a pair of bores 10 extending front to back in the member50, the forward portions communicating with vertical and horizontalpassageways 12, 14 in the wall of the member 50 adjacent to the salttablet 48. Water enters the bores 'l0 through a space 16 (Fig. 2)between the wall of the torpedo and the outer surface of the member 50passing through the bores into the passageways 12, 14 thereby coming incontact with the salt tablets causing them gradually to dissolve.

AAs long as the torpedo is out of the water, the tablets 48 areeffective to maintain the latches 26 in their locking positions but assoon as the torpedo enters the Water the tablets starts to dissolve. Thesize and arrangement of the passageways by which water is admitted tothe soluble tablets are such that these tablets will not dissolvesufficiently to release the latches from their engagement with the cap30 until the torpedo has been in the Water a sufficient length of timeto have completed its trial run. Shortly after completion of the trialrun the tablets 48 are sufficiently dissolved to permit the latches tobe moved away from the cap 30 under the force ex- Verted thereon by thespring 20 whereupon the buoy is expelled by the spring from the torpedoand ,risesr to the surface of the water. The buoy may be painted abright color which contracts with the color of the water, therebyfacilitating its location. The connection between the buoy and thetorpedo afforded by the cable I8 enables divers readily to locate thetorpedo whereupon it may be recovered. Inasmuch Vas therelease of thebuoy is determined solely` by the length of submergence of the torpedoin the water and not by hydrostatic pressure there is no danger oflosing the torpedo if it comes to rest in shallow water in which thehydrostatic pressure might be insulcient to operate the means by whichWater is expelled from the exercise head in the arrangement in commonuse as referred to previously. It will be understood that the recoverybuoy arrangement described herein may be used in combination with otherrecovery means, such as the means for expelling the Water from the headreferred to above, in which case the recovery buoy would be effective ifthe other means failed properly to operate.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1.In combination, a. torpedo, a buoy housed within the torpedo, meansurging said buoy out- Y wardly of the torpedo, latches engageable withthe buoy to prevent its emergence from the torpedo, and soluble membersengageable with saidl latches for holding the latches in place, saidmembers being exposed to the action of the water When the torpedo issubmerged whereupon the latches are rendered ineffective to hold thebuoy within the torpedo after the torpedo has been submerged apredetermined length of time.

2. In combination, a torpedo, a buoy housed within the torpedo, meansurging said buoy outwardly of the torpedo, latches engageable with thebuoy to prevent its emergence from the torpedo, said latches beingarranged to be cammed outwardly into inoperative positions in responseto the force exerted thereon by the outwardly urged buoy, and solublemembers for holding said latches in inoperative positions, said membersbeing exposed to the actionof the water when the torpedo is submergedwhereupon the buoy is released upon submergence of the torpedo for apredeterminedV length of time.

CHARLES C. BELL. RICHARD ML ELLIOTT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

Y Y UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

